Results trickle in for Super Tuesday key state primaries in Texas, North Carolina, Alabama and more

Super Tuesday results are coming in for a series of consequential primaries as races for governor, Congress and local offices take shape across the country.

Democratic Rep. Colin Allred won his party’s nomination to take on Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas, NBC News projects, setting up a race that will draw national attention this fall.

Allred, who has posted strong fundraising totals, managed to hit the majority-vote threshold necessary to avoid a runoff.

Republicans need a net gain of just two seats to take control of the Senate, or one seat if the party wins the White House since the vice president casts tie-breaking votes in the upper chamber. Democrats face a very difficult map with few offensive opportunities, one of which is in Texas.

In the battleground state of North Carolina, NBC News projects Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein won their parties’ primaries for governor.

Robinson is a conservative culture warrior who’s made litany of controversial comments and has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Stein had the backing of the state’s Democratic elites in his primary.

The general election to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is likely to echo many of the same themes that will define the presidential contest. North Carolina is one of just two presidential swing states, along with New Hampshire, holding a gubernatorial election this year.

Voters in five states — California, Texas, North Carolina, Alabama and Arkansas — have cast ballots to decide which candidates in a slew of down-ballot races will advance to November.

Texas is also hosting several notable House primaries.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, a long-serving representative in the Houston area, will win her primary, NBC News projects, fending off a challenge from former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards. Jackson Lee had originally sought to leave her current seat to run for mayor of Houston, but fell short before deciding to run for re-election to the House last year. Jackson’s Lee 18th District is heavily Democratic.

Republican Brandon Gill easily won the crowded GOP primary in the open 26th District in Texas, NBC News projects. Gill, the son-in-law of far-right activist Dinesh D’Souza, had Trump’s endorsement in the race.

Two super PACs funded by GOP megadonors spent more than $2 million against Gill. But the 29-year-old is now expected to easily with the heavily Republican district in the fall.

Elsewhere on the ballot, state Attorney General Ken Paxton is on a revenge tour, backing primary challengers to GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach him last year.

In Texas, candidates must cross a majority-vote threshold to avoid a runoff primary between the top two finishers.

In Alabama, Republican Reps. Jerry Carl and Barry Moore were forced into a rare incumbent-vs.-incumbent primary in the 1st District after new lines were congressional lines were drawn. The new maps also created a second majority-Black district in the state.

And in California, where polls close 11 p.m. ET, a bevy of competitive congressional primaries are taking place under the state’s unique system, where the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party.

The marquee race is for Senate, with Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee competing with Republican Steve Garvey, a former Los Angeles Dodger player.

California will all but certainly stay in the Democratic column this fall. But the primary will determine if the race will become a potentially contentious intra-party battle or a standard Democrat-vs.-Republican matchup in the deep-blue state.

The state is also home to nine competitive U.S. House races that will play a major role in the overall battle for control of the chamber.

Given how many California voters cast ballots via mail, results in some races may not be finalized for days.